1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to snow skis and has particular reference to devices for effecting traction and speed control of skis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Certain types of skiers, such as military personnel, forest servicemen, explorers, etc. often travel over relatively steep snow and ice covered mountains or other uneven terrain. Although certain procedures can be followed in climbing and descending steep slopes on skis, such procedures are tiring and often hazardous, particularly under icy conditions and when the skier is carrying a heavy pack.
Attempts have been made heretofore to provide traction devices to aid skiers in climbing steep slopes but there have been certain drawbacks which have prevented them from being used generally. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 2,358,213 issued to A. Courage illustrates a traction device attachable to a ski for climbing snow and ice covered slopes. Such device, however, tends to retard forward travel during level or downhill skiing because of the tendency of snow to build up in front of any object which projects below the bottom of the ski. Therefore, the device must be removed after each climb.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,867 to N.F. Hawthorne discloses another type of traction device intended to be permanently attached to a ski. The device has settable spurs which, when set, extend downwardly along the side of the ski for traction purposes. The spurs, however, cannot equally well provide traction in climbing on soft snow and hard ice. That is, if the spurs are made wide enough to be effective in soft snow they would be ineffective to penetrate an ice surface. Also, such spurs must be set and retracted as conditions change during climbing and downhill skiing.